I Will Always Love You

Chapter Seven: Two Years...

Tori Vega

"You know I'd never make a move on her," said Beck putting a hand on my shoulder. Was this his attempt at comforting me? I mean, I guess knowing that he wouldn't go after her, abusing her current vulnerability, was comforting...kind of, but not really.

"I know," I whispered. I could barely hear myself. I mulled over the options. Would she find that she loved me again? Would she remember she was gay? When would it dawn upon her? Would she ever remember, or would I be left to grow old alone as she and Beck, or anybody, became a happy married couple, growing old and her forgetting our six months of pure ecstasy?

"I've seen the way you look at each other," said Beck. "She loves you.

I wiped a tear from my eyes. "Not anymore," I said grimly. I slowly retracted my hand from Jade's and walked out of the room, tears streaming down my face.

Outside of her room, I found a comfortable green chair, put my head between my hands, and cried my eyes out. I had never thought of loving Jade as a curse. Never. No matter how many times she teased and taunted, or how many times I thought I didn't have a chance with her, I never saw it as a curse... until now. If I hadn't felt all of this love for her, it wouldn't hurt so badly right now. I wonder, if she had been in my position, would she cry for me too?

"Hey Tori." I turned my head to see a somber-looking redhead.

"Hey Cat," I said through my tears. She kneeled down next to my feet, putting an awkward hand on my back.

"You... you don't have to do this," I lied. I wanted her to comfort me. Well, more accurately, I wanted Jade to do this, but seeing as Jade didn't even know who I was, Cat would have to do.

"Did you know that I'm bi?" Cat asked completely out of the blue. My head jerked up, never suspecting that innocent little Cat was bi.

"No," I said, staring at her oddly. I thought back to all her little mannerisms, the way she talked, the way she moved, the way she had done everything. None of it ever screamed 'I am bi-sexual' to me. There were points where her hand might linger on the Eva's thigh a bit longer than necessary, but that was just typical Cat... wasn't it?

"Well I am," said Cat. "And I used to have quite the crush on Jade." Suddenly a stab of jealousy went through me. All I could see was red. She's my Jade.

'No, Tori, that's not true. She was your Jade,' my inner voice told me. I slumped down, defeated.

"Really?" I asked dejectedly. Maybe Cat would have a better chance with Jade; at least the dark haired beauty knew who she was.

"Yup. When I found out she was gay, I was ecstatic, thinking I maybe had a chance."

"Well now you do," I said dryly, harshly. I didn't sound like myself.

"Not really," said Cat in a psh-ish voice. "When I saw her with you I knew she wasn't the one for me. Jade had always liked me; she'd remain relatively civil for my sake. But around you... she didn't bite off Robbie's head anymore, she didn't threaten Sinjin with scissors when he hit on her. She was different. She let you in. She fell in love with you. Love like that doesn't go away." I knew she was trying to compliment me, to help me, but hearing it just made the loss sting more. "Jade's my best friend. Even if she's lost two years of her memory, she hasn't changed. She's a fighter. She will remember she loves you. But you can't give up on her." I felt a whole new set of tears fall from my eyes.

Why did this have to happen to me? Why did Jade have to forget me? What did I ever do to deserve this? Whatever the answers, I knew only one thing. For once, Cat was right. The bubbly, not-as-ditzy-as-before, bi-sexual girl with red velvet cupcake hair was right. I couldn't give up on Jade. No matter how hard it was to hold on I wouldn't let go. I would stay with her forever. I would overcome this challenge, because true love overcame everything. No. Matter. What.